Following the 2024 Presidential election, it appeared like there was one large winner who wasn’t on a poll: Joe Rogan. The podcast host seemingly succeeded in placing his finger on the dimensions and utilizing his platform to assist propel Donald Trump again into the White Home. However ever since Trump took workplace, Rogan’s numbers have been slipping. In line with The Every day Beast, he acquired knocked out of the highest spot on the charts by anti-Trump podcast MediasTouch, and he’s not taking it notably nicely.
On Twitter, Rogan despatched out a not-at-all bitter “Who?” in reply to a put up about MediasTouch’s snatching the highest spot. It’s the kind of factor that you just’d say to point out that you just aren’t bothered by somebody’s success though you actually are.
Per The Every day Beast, citing knowledge from Podscribe, the MediasTouch Podcast has managed to rack up 56 million downloads and views throughout all platforms via February, jettisoning it forward of the Joe Rogan Expertise and its mixed 48.6 million downloads and views throughout the identical time interval. The viewers for MediasTouch has grown 101% previously month, whereas Rogan’s viewership has shrunk by practically one-third.
Rogan’s diehards on-line appear to suppose that the expansion of MediasTouch is inauthentic, however there have been some indicators that Rogan could also be pissing off elements of his viewers. Politico lately ran a narrative about followers who’ve grown disillusioned by Rogan’s obsessive and uncritical views of Elon Musk, who the podcaster has repeatedly known as a “tremendous genius.” Politico cites a rising disgruntled contingent of subscribers to the the r/JoeRogan subreddit, the place a minimum of some listeners are beginning to surprise simply how anti-establishment the man who retains sucking as much as a billionaire and his buddy and backing the appearing administration actually could be.
There’s little query Rogan has leaned closely into being a Trump Prepare man—a choice that gave the impression to be serving to develop his affect, as he acquired invited to the inauguration and has a number of entry to Trump orbiters. However Rogan simply retains having company from Musk’s circles, and people guys are likely to reveal themselves as know-nothings once they speak at size about absolutely anything. You don’t must scroll far on Twitter to come back throughout a clip of a current Rogan episode the place somebody like Marc Andreessen says one thing provably fallacious like claiming the Client Monetary Safety Bureau is “debanking” tech founders—a factor that somebody with even a reasonably essential ear hears and is aware of it doesn’t sound correct.
It’s comprehensible, in a method, that Rogan would lean into this world because it helped him skyrocket to unprecedented success and affect after a shaky interval throughout covid lockdowns the place it appeared like he would possibly really face penalties and backlash for internet hosting anti-science cranks on a regular basis. However he could have gotten just a little too excessive on the technofascist provide—a minimum of for some portion of his viewers.
Now, to be honest to Rogan, “Who?” is kinda a sound query with regards to the fellows behind MediasTouch. You’ve virtually definitely seen the account on Twitter, posting clips that rack up views and sharing anti-Trump information with barely sensationalized headlines. However the precise individuals behind the account, and the hosts of the podcast, are three brothers you’ve most likely by no means heard of: Ben, Brett and Jordy Meiselas. They caught hearth within the 2020 presidential election working some evocative and well-produced assault adverts in opposition to Trump and his Republican allies that had been profitable sufficient that they had been capable of rack up funding and increase their operation.
(That mentioned, it’s not like they haven’t been on Rogan’s radar previously. A MediasTouch affiliate, PatriotTakes, acquired Rogan in scorching water again in 2022 by surfacing clips of him saying the n-word.)
If you happen to’ve been invested in the entire “the Left wants its personal Joe Rogan” story, the Meiselas bros are most likely not the best individuals to fill the function. They’ve definitely managed to fill a job within the left-of-center media ecosystem, ensuring right-wing lunacy will get a number of publicity. However their content material is extraordinarily #TheResistance coded, and a cynical view of their operation would possibly see them extra as entrepreneurs than as real activists.
Rolling Stone identified in 2021 that the group has succeeded in fundraising, however what it does with that cash has not demonstrably benefited Democratic candidates or causes. It has benefited the brothers, although, who now—a minimum of for a second—have the largest podcast within the nation. What they do with it is going to probably decide simply how lengthy they keep in that high spot. Hopefully, it’s not simply brown nostril their very own most popular billionaires.
